Shopping

Where can I do your winter shopping?

There are a few stores for winter clothes in Middlebury, but they are on the expensive side. There are also a couple of second hand stores where you’ll be able to find cheaper stuff.

On the weekends, it is easy to go to Burlington and do some shopping there. You will find a greater variety of styles and prices. And on campus, each winter, there is a fair for winter clothes that were donated by people, these clothes are distributed for free.

To deal with the harsh winter, I think you really need a very good jacket and layers and layers of clothes. So if you want to do some shopping at home, try to focus on layering.

Is it really necessary to bring a bedside lamp for a dorm room? Or are there already lamps there? If there is any other furniture or non-obvious items you suggest bringing to campus I would love to know.

I generally found dorm rooms to be dark, so I bought a lamp. You probably will find it useful to get one, and if you can’t bring one with you, there are plenty of places in town where you can find them. I know the college store has some that you can buy.

A lot of people buy bean bag chairs, which I think are a great idea, or maybe a couch or something of that sort. They can be a little bit of a pain when you have to move out of your room, so I am thinking something along the lines of a butterfly chair.

The other thing I got that I really appreciated having was an exercise ball. I didn’t like my chair so I usually used it when I was sitting at my desk or of course to work out in my room in the morning.

My general feeling though is that you should really just bring stuff that you need because you will be so surprised by how much you will accumulate over the years at Middlebury. So try to minimize extra stuff, and instead buy cheaper/practical stuff that you won’t feel bad about breaking/losing/throwing away.

Are there any stores on or near campus that I can go to buy stuff that I can cook with like chicken? If the stores are near campus, how far are they and are there shuttles to them?

I am sure you heard about the commons system. Each commons office has cooking utilities for people to check out for free. They have all kinds of pots, pans, knives, etc… They also have a blender, and so many other things. You just need to go talk to them and they will check anything out for you.

If you are still interested in getting your own stuff, I know that there are plenty of places in town (walking distance) that will have them. I am almost certain Ben Franklin has all kinds of stuff for cooking.